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Wednesday, 12 November 2014

World Pneumonia Day: Sanofi Reinforces commitment To Nigerian Children

As the world marks World Pneumonia Day today, Sanofi strengthens its commitment in the fight against pneumonia with the Pediatric Initiative tagged ‘Healthy Children, Happy Children’ in partnership with the Pediatric Association of Nigeria (PAN).

Speaking on this initiative, Medical Director, Sanofi Nigeria and Ghana, Dr. Fifen Inoussasaid, ‘Pediatrics is a priority for Africa because one child out of four in the world is African and 50 percent of the worldwide infant mortality occurs on this continent. The Sanofi Pediatric Initiative corresponds to the strong desire to reinforce our commitment to child healthcare.”

President, Paediatric Association of Nigeria, Prof. Adebiyi Olowu, stated that Pneumonia is one of the preventable but major causes of child mortality in Nigeria and it is essential that parents, guardians and care givers take essential precautions to ensure good health-seeking behaviour. He urged that preventive efforts such as proper nutrition, exclusive breast feeding, hand-washing and routine immunizations be emphasized to avoid pneumonia.

Stressing that pneumonia is a killer Prof Olowu called on government, relevant agencies and stakeholders to make concerted efforts that would significantly improve on the health of children.

Dr. Amina Biobaku of Isalu Hospital, Ogba, Lagos, one of the numerous beneficiaries of the PAN medical education programs on pneumonia supported by Sanofi, testified that the training has positively impacted her clinical practice.

Estelle Dogbo, Product Manager at Sanofi said: “The Pediatrics Initiative which adapts healthcare offer to children relies on three commitments. The first commitment is the development of medicines and vaccines offer adapted to pediatric care. The second commitment involves provision of quality medical information and dedicated training to healthcare professionals by way of continual medical education programs in pediatric topics.The third commitment entails the deployment of awareness campaigns to the general public.

World Pneumonia Day provides an annual forum for the world to stand together and demand action in the fight against pneumonia. More than 100 organizations representing the interests of children joined forces as the Global Coalition against Child Pneumonia to hold the first World Pneumonia Day on November 2, 2009. Pneumonia is a preventable and treatable disease that sickens 155 million children under 5 and kills 1.6 million each year. This makes pneumonia the number 1 killer of children under 5, claiming more young lives than AIDS, malaria, and measles combined. World Pneumonia Day helps to bring this health crisis to the public’s attention and encourages policy makers and grassroots organizers alike to combat the disease.

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